New radio for my SKY

[V]

I finally broke down and bought a new headunit for my SKY.

it's a Pioneer 7" touchscreen am/fm/cd/dvd player.
its only single cd, down from the stock 6 disc in-dash, but that's fine.
I also got the bluetooth adapter to allow use of my phone through it along with the ability for streaming bluetooth audio from my sony-ericsson "walkman" phone. My phone has a 2GB M2 memory card i can put ripped music on off my computer and quality is great(i had bluetooth audio in a previous vehicle)

On top of that, the radio will retain ALL oem functions, door chimes, key chimes, OnStar, etc. Even the steering wheel controls will be functional as well by means of an interface and the wired remote input on the pioneer radio. It also is XM/Sirrius ready, i have the pioneer XM box, just not sure if ill order XM and install it though.

Another nice feature is a USB input adapter setup. With the use of a USB memory card reader i can play all my music files right from a memory card. I bought the reader and a 4GB M2 card(max size thatll also work in my phone). Ill be able to tuck the reader and card in my glove box and be able to navigate all my personal music by album, artist, folder, etc. right from the touch screen display. Hence the main reason i dont mind the single in-dash CD now. Yes 4GB isnt big, but currently i only have 3.6GB of music on my comp, so thats good to start with, And if i want, i can always buy additional SD or M2 cards and copy more music onto those. They take up a lot less space than CDs.

I can even upload a custom backgroud for the display, select from a bunch of different illumination colors for the buttons(112 options) and dispaly(like 6 options), and add a audio/video source or add a backup camera.

I have always loved pioneer products and i'm sure i'm going to enjoy this one as well... im just not sure how "fun" the install will be, but should be mostly plug and play with the GM harness interface. I even bought a regular remote for it just for the hel of it, even though i think is the small space of the SKY interior, plus the steering wheels controls, i shouldnt need it, but there may be some functions easier accessed with it.

I'll be sure to post pics of the install in about 3 weeks.

[Tru2Chevy]

Instead of a memory card and reader you should just buy a small USB hard drive and hook that up. You can put all of your music on it and still have plenty of room for expansion without worrying about carrying multiple memory cards around.

- Justin

[V]

external hard drives have issues, the amperage needed to spin them up is too much for whats provided. ive been reading up a lil and only 1.8" versions are remotely capable apparently, but if its an option i can always go that route, or even get like a 32GB thumb drive. The M2 memory card is just a temp start for future options.

plus i heard that the headunit is limited to a USB source of i think 15000 songs.

[GP99GT]

15000 songs is quite a bit...i have 2870 songs and its only taking up 15.0 gigs

15000 songs would work out to almost 80 gigs

[Knipps]

5635 songs, 28.55 GB here... Paul, you shouldn't have any problems

[V]

yea i have like 1100 songs only and on shuffle, they last me quite a while so like i figured even the 4GB M2 memory card will do fine for now.

i was looking at larger GB thumb drives, but i couldnt find one that seemed reliable enough, all the ones i looked at had enough bad reviews that it scared me away from them.

and yea, the 15000 song limit or i think 160GB max, i dont think i could run a 1TB external hard drive. plus i also think whatever type of USB device it is, it needs to be plug and play, no software required.

[PolarBear]

Originally Posted by SmokingSS

On top of that, the radio will retain ALL oem functions, door chimes, key chimes, OnStar, etc. Even the steering wheel controls will be functional as well by means of an interface and the wired remote input on the pioneer radio.

How is this possible? Does the Head unit work with the GM LAN, or is there an interface box to retain these features? I know the steering wheel controls are usually retained by an interface box

Interested to see the final result, be sure to post pictures!

[PolarBear]

Originally Posted by SmokingSS

external hard drives have issues, the amperage needed to spin them up is too much for whats provided.

Go Solid state! That should solve power up current issues

[V]

yes, there is a GM LAN interface controller, 119 bucks, but retains all functions, OnStar still mutes radio and plays through front speakers. If it were not for this, i would not have gone aftermarket. And then yes, the steering wheels controls are a different interface box as well. Like in my SS the steering wheel control interface had an IR transmitter which worked as a regular remote, but on this one, the interface plugs right into a port on the radio so glare/sunlight in a convertible will not affect it.

And, even with solid state, seems max is 127GB and must be formatted in FAT32. ill def be looking into it in the future. For this though, someone that knows more about computers, drives, formats, etc would be helpful. i read that the 127GB max is due to the headunits ability to load a "table" off the drive so its able just to find stuff, any larger that 127 and it wont load the device at all.

[V]

Radio is in, everything still works like factory, its awesome. I didnt get to take any pics but ill post some of the car and all the mods in dec when i come back home.

[PolarBear]

I am very interested to see it all installed!

[V]

it came out real nice, even the saturn dealer was impressed with the color matching and all. i just forgot to get pics when i was home, stupid me. but i will in dec.

and matt and ryan... i now have a little more music than i did before. Im right now at about 160GB... thats about 44,000 songs... AND i plan on adding about another 50GB before i get back to the states. We pass around our hard drives here and compile huge collections.

[qwikz28]

Sounds nice Paul. I might do it to the Saturn if the stocker dies anytime soon.

and please keep posts constructive to the thread.